Love&Lomography by NICK RAVEN [REVIEW]

Nick Raven is a hungry young man. Love&Lomography is is debut long player following up his 2011 Happy You Hippie Me EP and it’s an understated collection of sweet, wide-eyed and crafted love-lorned guitar-strummed indie-pop songs mostly about love. From the power of love in the Cash-rhythmed and obviously titled ‘Love’ to the painful frustration and confusion of young love in Head Spin Round to the cry-wank (in the nicest possible way, come on, admit it, we have ALL been there) of the self-lullaby of Singing Myself To Sleep.

Sonically deceptively simple on the first listen or so, but there’s a undeniable craftsmanship that shines through these songs if you let them sit with you for a while. I have to say, lead single Butterfly High – with it’s wistful-come-dark melodics might appear, prime face, to be the strong lead single – but it’s turned out to be one of my least favourite songs in this collection. The psychedelics of Sitting & Laughing or the longing-ness of Searching For the Sea or the optimistic youthful joy (replete with pretty awesomely high-pitched ‘woahs’ that verge on being comically placed in an aware self-parody) in Hello Mr Sky with its fairground round melody have become clear winners for my ears instead. The sparseness of closing track Blind Man is not to be underestimated, either.

Nick Raven is a name I should hope we shall see and hear for many years to come – clearly he’s a young man with a talent and penchant for song writing. This is a worthy debut album from someone so young into his musical career – something to be encouraged and enjoyed; preferably sooner than later.

RATING : PRETTY COOL

I have always struggled with a numerical scale; it feels so finite and arbitrary. So the CHEESE ON TOAST scale looks a little something like this : FREAKIN’ AWESOME / JUST AWESOME / REALLY GREAT / GREAT / GOOD / PRETTY COOL / NOT BAD / COULD BE BETTER / PRETTY BAD, ACTUALLY / NOT RECOMMENDED FOR EARS